Indonesia calls for leadership

Canberra Times
Thursday 11/12/2008 Page: 12

The Indonesian President has used a joint press conference with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to call on developed nations to show leadership on climate change. One year on from the UN climate change talks at Bali, at which Australia was applauded for signing the Kyoto Protocol, Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has returned to the island calling for more action. "The developed countries must take the lead, and in fact developing countries are also willing to do their part but they are unable to do so because of their lack of resources," he said yesterday.

Developing countries at UN climate talks in Poland are demanding rich nations cut greenhouse gas emissions by between 25 and 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. But some developed nations want to see more action from the developing world first. Australia was to reveal its 2020 greenhouse target before the talks, but has played the announcement until Monday. Mr Grant said it was important all economies "developed and developing" embraced the climate change challenge. "There is a long way to go in terms of the overall negotiation."

Back home, the debate about Australia's 2020 target range continues to rage. It is expected the range will fall somewhere between five and 25% cut in emissions. Environmentalists are holding out hope the government will leave open the option of a deep cut. The chief executive of the climate Institute, John Connor, believes the government will allow for a 25% cut. "No one has told me to shut up when I've been raising this as important," Mr O'Connor said.

But minerals Council spokesman Brendan Pearson said the cats to emissions would be very difficult for his industry. "People who talk about 25 and 40% are just off the map," he said. Responding to the latest rumour, that the government will push for a 10% cut, he said that would not be easy. "Pursuing a 10% cut will impose of the highest carbon costs in the world on Australia's mineral industry," he said.

National's senator Barnaby Joyce says he can't support emissions trading, due to start in 2010, because of the financial crisis. "The emissions trading scheme is a tax in its current form in the current climate which will put people out of work and it's our job to keep them in work," Senator Joyce said. His comments foreshadow another battle within the coalition over its policy on emissions trading. The coalition policy is to largely support emissions trading while pushing for a delay until after 2011.